Bugged
by Kainaku
Summary: Despite all these things Katara loved about the beach, there was one thing she couldn't get over. Well, less of a thing and more of an insect. Lots of one type of insect. Pre-Sozin's Comet. Lotsa fluff. Oneshot.


**A/N: **This is a Zutara Secret Santa giftfic for supermangageek23. Hope you enjoy it!

**Disclaimer:** Don't own it!

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_Bugged_

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The beach was great.

Katara was the first one to admit it. She loved hearing the sound of the waves as she went to sleep every night. She loved being able to walk down and bend without worrying about the size of things. She loved ice-board surfing, just floating, and yes, even sun-bathing.

Despite all these things Katara loved about the beach, there was one thing she couldn't get over. Well, less of a thing and more of an insect. Lots of one type of insect. The flysquito.

One minute she would be playing and enjoying herself in the water, and the next the nasty bug would buzz on up and take a bite out of her. And it _hurt_ when flysquitos bit. Worse than a butterbee sting, worse than stepping on a pointy shell. Not to mention all the _itching_ afterward.

So yeah, the beach was great, but the bugs were _miserable._

Katara groaned as she rolled over in the sand. Her thoughts couldn't distract her enough to not notice as another flysquito decided to make a meal out of her back. She half-heartedly swatted at the pesky insect to try and get it off.

"Worst. Thing. Ever," she grumbled.

"What is?" Zuko asked. He sat a couple feet away, and had been watching Aang and Toph sandbending.

No flysquito hovered around him. Of course. These damned Fire Nation bugs knew better than to pester their Fire Nation prince. He was probably immune to them. Jerk.

Katara flopped over again, trying to scratch the new bite on her back with the coarse sand.

"I thought you'd like the beach, what with the ocean and all," Zuko glanced over at her. She glowered at him. "Um, lots of water..?"

"I _do_ like that," Katara said. "This place is great, but it, um, has some really annoying…inhabitants..?"

"Inhabitants?" He gave her a Look.

"Um," Katara tried to think of a way to backpedal gracefully. As she dragged out the syllable, Zuko's Look turned into a glare.

"I thought you were gonna stop doing this."

"That came out wrong," Katara muttered, looking sheepish. Zuko rolled his eyes, but his glare lifted. "I didn't mean it like that."

"How _did_ you mean it?"

"The bugs. I meant the bugs."

Zuko raised his eyebrow.

"They keep biting me, and so as much fun as I have, it's all gone by the time I'm back at the house. Everything gets all itchy, and it's just _awful_."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"...That sucks."

"Yeah."

He snorted in attempt to hold back his laughter. Katara turned her glare from the flysquito buzzing near her face to Zuko.

"What's so funny, _Sparky_?"

His back straightened, and he scratched at the back of his neck awkwardly. He avoided looking at her.

"Zuko…"

A wry grin stretched across his face when he finally met her glare.

"Sorry, bad joke."

This time it was her eyebrow raised.

"The bugs. Biting you. It sucks?"

Katara blinked.

"Because they're sucking—"

"I got it!" She threw her arms up and heaved a sigh dramatically. "Spirits, you're worse than Sokka."

She heard him snicker again and mutter something, but Katara had already retreated back to her inner rantings about flysquitos, humidity and now boys with poor comedic instincts.

Some minutes later (and another bug bite), a shadow fell across her body. She opened an eye, and Zuko was standing there, blocking the sun.

"Come on, there's some lotion at the house that'll help with the itching," he said, offering his hand to her.

She took it with a roll of her eyes as he pulled her up. "Now you tell me."

"Well, if you'd said something instead of moping in the sand…"

"Why do you care if I mope?"

"We can't have a sour Sugar Queen," he shot her another small grin. She graced his pun with a snort. His smile widened. "Besides, isn't this supposed to be what friends do? Help each other?"

She returned his smile as he led her away from the beach and the pesky flysquitos. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Katara had forgotten he still had her hand until he let it go as they entered the house. She watched with a bemused expression as Zuko rifled through the kitchen pantry, muttering under is breath.

Studiously ignoring the itchy bump behind her knee that was crying for attention, she pondered how strangely right everything felt again. Her traveling family had a roof and a steady supply of food. There was no need to wonder about where to find a new teacher for Aang. And the only people hell-bent on catching them were too busy plotting the endgame of a century-long war to be bothered to find them.

Katara sighed and leaned against the counter as Zuko's muttering shifted into cursing as he crouched down to search the lowest shelves.

She was glad he had joined her family. It had taken a lot of yelling, anger, more than a few fights and a life-changing field trip to reach this conclusion, but she thought it was worth it. Gran Gran probably had some saying about how the hard won things are the most enjoyed, and Katara couldn't agree more in this case. Being friendly with Zuko was a lot easier than being spiteful with him.

Grumbling, he stood up and scowled.

"Need help?" Katara asked, rubbing at a bug bite on her shoulder.

"Let me look one more place," he replied. "I thought there'd be some cream already mixed, but I don't think there is."

Zuko walked out of the room, into another wing of the house and opened the door to a small room below the stairs. Katara followed a few steps behind.

"What's in here?"

"Minerals and stuff."

"Minerals?"

"And stuff. I don't know what a lot of it is."

"What are you looking for?"

"Flower of zinc."

"That doesn't sound like a rock. Sounds like we should be in the garden."

"It's a powder. Not actually a flower." He threw a half-hearted glare over his shoulder at her. Katara rolled her eyes in response.

Katara inched closer to the doorway to try and look over his shoulder. A few breaths later, he made a wordless victory cry and snatched a small jar in the far corner. He turned around quickly with a grin.

A broad grin that was wiped off his face by the forehead it ran into.

Both teens froze.

Suddenly the hallway seemed incredibly small. Katara could feel him breathing along her hairline. She could see the flush rising up his neck. She could hear the words he almost said die in the back of his throat. Katara couldn't hold back the shiver as the muscles in his lips fell slack.

Then, as quickly as that interminable moment had started, Zuko put his hands on her shoulders, pushing her backward. Now she saw the brilliant red his good ear had turned. His wild eyes met hers for less than a second before darting away as the blush spread across his face.

"Um," she breathed. She could feel her face burning. "Sorry. Just… nosy?"

Zuko let out a strangled sounding snort. "Yeah."

Then he escaped back to the kitchen.

Katara remained rooted, staring at the space Zuko had been occupying. She blinked rapidly and willed her lungs to draw in a full breath.

That was certainly one of the weirdest things to happen to her this year. Well, weird for her anyway. It was such an awkwardly _teenaged_ moment. If it had been some sort of chase or battle, it would have been her life as usual. However, an accidental touch (no, a _kiss_)? _Weird_.

By the time Katara made it back into the kitchen, Zuko was scooping some crushed mint leaves into a boiling kettle. Somehow, she wasn't surprised tea was involved in his remedy.

Then Katara remembered what caused this whole mess in the first place—bug bites. In her shock, she was numb to their incessant itching. She wasn't now, though.

Zuko looked up at the sound of her scratching. His face was calm, but his eyes still flickered oddly. Katara knew she wasn't much better. Despite her steadily slowing heartbeat, she could still feel her face burning.

"Tea?" she asked.

"Yeah," he replied.

"Your uncle's recipe?"

"Yeah."

She could do this. It was just an accident. No need to act all flustered. It's not like he meant to kiss her. And it was just her forehead! She'd been kissed on the forehead plenty of times, so her hands shouldn't be trembling. Stop over-reacting. _Stop it._

The silence stretched as Zuko steadfastly attended to his itching cure. He mixed the powder with a the mint tea, adding a few drops at a time until it formed a green-gold paste. Zuko frowned at it. Katara bit back the hysterical giggle trying to escape from her mouth.

Zuko turned his frown at her for the strange sneezing sound she was making. Then he walked back to the cupboard below the stairs. Katara had just started rubbing the gritty paste on a bite on her shoulder when he came back, holding an earthen jar.

"Impatient much?" He asked.

"I thought it was ready?" She replied hesitantly.

"Not quite." He gestured at the jar. "I said it was a lotion, not a poultice. That stuff's _really _concentrated."

Katara pouted. The bite did feel less itchy, and the mint tea made every hot breath of air feel deliciously cool. She sighed and wiped the excess paste off her fingers along the rim of the bowl.

Zuko hummed in approval as she leaned against the counter. Katara did _not_ use the time to stare at his pursed lips while he was concentrating on finishing up his magic lotion.

Nope. No way. No.

Well. Maybe just a little. But she convinced herself it was his fault for biting his tongue like that. Katara wasn't sure if there was some sort of poison secreted by flysquitos that enhance hormonal reactions, but she wouldn't be surprised. That was the only logical explanation she could find to decipher the flip-flopping of her stomach, her suddenly dry lips, and the haziness of her thoughts.

Zuko's lips stretched into a grin. The paste had transformed into a nice, smooth lotion (if a bit green). Katara was a little impressed. She might even admit that to him if it actually worked, too.

"Here," he said, handing the bowl over to her. "Try that."

Katara dipped two fingers in, scooping up the cream. She bent down and rubbed it over the bite behind her knee. She sighed as the lotion cooled the bite's angry itch.

"Mm hmm," she murmured. "That's the stuff."

"Glad I could help." She thought his voice sounded a little tight. She saw Zuko's eyes flicker again.

"Seriously, Zuko." Katara took a step towards him, taking the bowl out of his hands. "This is the best lotion _ever._"

He swallowed and made a garbled noise in his throat as she reached her arms around his shoulders to hug him. Katara grinned. She should do this more often. Zukos are good for hugging. His arms settled behind her waist. She leaned against him.

"_Thank you,_" she whispered.

He held her a little tighter; she saw goosebumps pebble his neck. She stretched up on tip-toe to get right by his ear.

"You're an excellent _lotionbender_."

Katara held her straight face for approximately two seconds before she started giggling. Zuko pulled away with a lop-sided smile and low chuckle.

"Lotionbender? Is that what you called me?"

She just laughed louder.

"Spirits, you're as bad as Sokka. Bad jokes must be a family trait." Zuko leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms.

Katara tried to glare at him, but the laughter won out.

"It wasn't even a good joke!"

"I know," she said, finally in control of her giggles. He frowned at her, then looked out the window toward the beach. Katara's grin faded a little, but it was replaced by a thought. A crazy thought. And now that she'd thought it, she couldn't unthink it. It was one of those crazy thoughts that would wheedle its way into every other thought if she didn't get rid of it, so really she had no other choice.

Before she could think any further or worry about awkwardness she did it.

Katara leaned up on tip-toe again, steadying herself with an arm on Zuko's shoulder, and kissed him. It was short, sweet and on the lips. Just as she felt his eyes flutter shut, she pulled away and raced outside, clutching the lotion in both hands.

"Thanks!" She called, turning back to catch his wild eyes one more time. This time, he was rooted to the ground, staring after her.

Some minutes later, after Katara reclaimed her spot in the sand and applied the lotion to her bug bites, Zuko sat back down next to her. He stared at her for a second. She blinked innocently at him.

"You know what?" she asked.

"What?" He looked a little worried.

"The beach really is great. Even with the flysquitos."

Katara smiled at him, shading her eyes. Zuko chuckled and rolled his eyes.

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**A/N:** Prompts were Zutara!fluff, AU with Zutara!friendship as kids, Older!Zutara, Comedy, and Sweet. I think three out of five's not too bad? Sorry I procrastinated so long!

Just as an FYI, Zuko was trying to create some calamine lotion. Flower of zinc is an archaic term for zinc carbonate, one of the two main active ingredients in calamine lotion. The mint tea was my idea, and it does help soothe things when applied topically. And the lotion base was coconut butter/oil or similar. I tried to stick to science, but I didn't completely (I mean, if you really wanted, I could have made this fic a series of balanced chemical equations).

Thanks for reading!


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